Observation/Reflection #5 - How Do We Stop This Thing?
Observe how and when your teacher closes his or her lessons and/or activities. How does he or she end each class period? Is there a set routine? If so, describe it. Pay special attention to when you teacher begins to end the class. Does he or she return to the purpose or main idea of the lesson? Does he or she "set up" the homework or the next day's activity? Is the teacher still teaching when the bell rings or are students already poised to leave? Is there some "dead time" at the end of the class period? If so, how much? How do students react to your teacher's closing strategies? Remember that these questions are a guide and that you don't have to answer each one. Be sure you reflect on your observations and describe how you will try to end your classes. What supports for these ideas might you include in your lesson plans?
Observations
Today Mrs. Brocato was having her students work with microscopes to become more familiar with the proper procedure and to start using slides. She started the lesson by going over the lab from last week where they were to draw the letter E from a newspaper that they made a wet mount of. They had to draw it under low and high power. The class made the observation that the microscope flipped the image over. She went over the proper ways of making scientific drawings that are accurate, detailed, and to scale. She then reviewed the steps to using a microscope. The students were then instructed to use four pages in their notebooks, each page with two drawings, and draw four different objects from the pre-made slides. One drawing was the object under low power and the other was under high power. They were to apply what they know about using microscopes to find the objects and focus them themselves and use their knowledge of scientific drawings to draw what they saw. The work was completed independently and was in their notebook, to be part of their notebook grade. For those students who finished early, there were pieces of magazine pages for them to observe for fun under the microscopes by making their own wet mount of the piece. All students were able to finish this lab and clean their spots by the end of the period. She concluded this class by handing out a letter to go home to parents about parent conferences, and reminding them of their schedule for next week.
I have observed Mrs. Brocato conclude her lessons in several different ways. One of my first observations, the students were completing a lab and were going to do a formal lab report at home to hand in. She concluded this class by going over the parts of a conclusion. She went over exactly what she was looking for in each sentence and had the class contribute their own ideas to put together a class conclusion as an example. Another class was concluded by going back to their journal question from the beginning of the class and going over the worksheet that they completed as their journal to tell whether different things were living or non-living. They applied what they learned in the lesson to fix any previous misconceptions. There are several techniques that Mrs. Brocato uses to conclude her class. They students are never in the middle of anything when the bell rings, but there is never a huge lull time either. Even if there was, the students would refer to their worksheet from the beginning of the year entitled “Things to do when you have nothing to do.”
Reflection
I think the conclusion of lessons is one of the most important parts of a lesson. It is what the student will remember most about the class. Mrs. Brocato definitely makes a point to have her students leave her classroom with the main idea, the big picture of the class. By going over the parts of a conclusion, she reminds them that they have to write their conclusion for homework, it ties in their results from the lab that they did that day, and the students can go home with it fresh in their memory. By going back to journal questions from the beginning of the class, the students are able to fix their misconceptions and they can see exactly what they learned today in class. I plan to use many different strategies in closing my class and I will definitely use Mrs. Brocato’s ideas.
Observation/Reflection #5 - How Do We Stop This Thing?
Observe how and when your teacher closes his or her lessons and/or activities. How does he or she end each class period? Is there a set routine? If so, describe it. Pay special attention to when you teacher begins to end the class. Does he or she return to the purpose or main idea of the lesson? Does he or she "set up" the homework or the next day's activity? Is the teacher still teaching when the bell rings or are students already poised to leave? Is there some "dead time" at the end of the class period? If so, how much? How do students react to your teacher's closing strategies? Remember that these questions are a guide and that you don't have to answer each one. Be sure you reflect on your observations and describe how you will try to end your classes. What supports for these ideas might you include in your lesson plans?Observations
Today Mrs. Brocato was having her students work with microscopes to become more familiar with the proper procedure and to start using slides. She started the lesson by going over the lab from last week where they were to draw the letter E from a newspaper that they made a wet mount of. They had to draw it under low and high power. The class made the observation that the microscope flipped the image over. She went over the proper ways of making scientific drawings that are accurate, detailed, and to scale. She then reviewed the steps to using a microscope. The students were then instructed to use four pages in their notebooks, each page with two drawings, and draw four different objects from the pre-made slides. One drawing was the object under low power and the other was under high power. They were to apply what they know about using microscopes to find the objects and focus them themselves and use their knowledge of scientific drawings to draw what they saw. The work was completed independently and was in their notebook, to be part of their notebook grade. For those students who finished early, there were pieces of magazine pages for them to observe for fun under the microscopes by making their own wet mount of the piece. All students were able to finish this lab and clean their spots by the end of the period. She concluded this class by handing out a letter to go home to parents about parent conferences, and reminding them of their schedule for next week.I have observed Mrs. Brocato conclude her lessons in several different ways. One of my first observations, the students were completing a lab and were going to do a formal lab report at home to hand in. She concluded this class by going over the parts of a conclusion. She went over exactly what she was looking for in each sentence and had the class contribute their own ideas to put together a class conclusion as an example. Another class was concluded by going back to their journal question from the beginning of the class and going over the worksheet that they completed as their journal to tell whether different things were living or non-living. They applied what they learned in the lesson to fix any previous misconceptions. There are several techniques that Mrs. Brocato uses to conclude her class. They students are never in the middle of anything when the bell rings, but there is never a huge lull time either. Even if there was, the students would refer to their worksheet from the beginning of the year entitled “Things to do when you have nothing to do.”
Reflection
I think the conclusion of lessons is one of the most important parts of a lesson. It is what the student will remember most about the class. Mrs. Brocato definitely makes a point to have her students leave her classroom with the main idea, the big picture of the class. By going over the parts of a conclusion, she reminds them that they have to write their conclusion for homework, it ties in their results from the lab that they did that day, and the students can go home with it fresh in their memory. By going back to journal questions from the beginning of the class, the students are able to fix their misconceptions and they can see exactly what they learned today in class. I plan to use many different strategies in closing my class and I will definitely use Mrs. Brocato’s ideas.